To Prepare Oneself

It was about the afternoon when Rapl and Artefus returned to the temporary camp, the Lich apprentice being carried by his master by magic. As Rapl saw the people of Krome, a smile came over his face. He saw them laughing, sleeping, and smiling with no worry, worry they once had when they were running from Dyrin and his army.

He saw the effects Artefus' presence brought them. "Look at their smiles, Rapl. All of it was because of you guys' hard work," Artefus complimented, earning a shocked face from the young boy.

"No master, it's because you're here, we merely le-"

"If you weren't there to take on the burden of leadership, then I would've never been able to meet up with Krome," Artefus interrupted, as Rapl was forced to take the compliment. As the two walked through the crowd, the young boy was shocked as the people of Krome thanked him as much as Artefus.

But his spree of complimenting ended as a panicked citizen came up to the two, "Your Majesty, there's trouble!" She exclaimed, leading Artefus to sharpen his eyes as Rapl wondered what it was, an attack maybe?

But as the two made it to the problem area, they were met with insults and yells, as the sitting Sevi was yelling at the soldier that took on all of Dyrin's army, "I SWEAR IF I COULD WALK RIGHT NOW YOU'D FIND MY FOOT IN YOUR MOUTH!!" He yelled as the soldier scoffed.

"Weirdo," returned the soldier as Sevi's anger boiled more. Artefus sighed as Rapl wondered what had happened.

"Quix, settle down, don't be talking like that to your peers," Artefus recited, leading the soldier to roll his eyes. The action took Rapl aback, all of the people who talked to Artefus who were Zanian sounded always joyous or loyal, but he sounded like he couldn't be asked.

Artefus sighed yet again as he brought him and Rapl closer to the soldier boy. Rapl gazed upon his armor, one looking like Artefus and Leena's. But his gaze earned a smirk from the soldier, "What? Jealous?" He asked in a voice clearly meant to annoy.

"I told you Quix to settle down," Artefus recited yet again as he cleared his throat, "Rapl Tsukumo, this, is Quix Veltor, current Grand General of the Empire of Zan, and the Symbol of Power. And Quix Veltor, this is Rapl Tsukumo, future Lich and Emperor of the Empire of Zan, and the Symbol of Order and Fear." Rapl's eyes looked into Quix's face deeply, he knew from rumors from the everyday soldiers that the new Grand General looked a bit young, but he didn't expect him to be too young.

"How… old are you?" Rapl asked, causing Quix's face to crunch up a bit.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He replied, his voice a bit offended, "Can't you just use that eye of yours?"

At this question, Rapl's brow lifted, "Wha- no?" Quix chuckled a bit at his response, but with a stern look from Artefus, he stopped.

"Sorry."

Finally, a small smile came over Artefus' face as he put a hand on Quix's shoulder, "He's eighteen, same age as you," at the Lich's announcement, Quix's face turned red.

"I-I told you not to tell anyon-"

But from the back of the three, it seemed like Sevi was not finished with their earlier squabble, "EIGHTEEN!! I'M FOUR YEARS YOUNGER THAN YOU AND WE'RE THE SAME HEIGHT HAHAHA!!!" The red-haired mocked, leading the Grand General to suddenly teleport next to him.

He grabbed the fire mage's shirt and pulled him close, "SHUT UP!!" He remarked in an agitated tone. But as he teleported, Rapl's eyes widened, he saw the Grand General teleporting around as he fought the army, it was the most spectacular battle display he had ever seen.

"So, how can he teleport?" Rapl asked his master.

"Magic art," Artefus swiftly responded, "A rare one in fact, the minimal requirement for teleportation is E2, and Grand General Quix was born with it."

Rapl turned to his master, his face that of awe, "S-so, Grand General Quix was born with E2 Magic arts?" At Rapl's question, Artefus shook his head.

"No, being born with a magic art above C level is one of the rarest cases known in the world, though, there are some who were." At his master's statement, a thought came up in Rapl's mind.

"Master, what's your Magic art level?" As the words left Rapl's mouth, a chuckle came out of Artefus.

"What do you think it is?" He asked, his tone a little proud.

Looking back at all the books he had read around the castle on magic, and from what Leena had said, Rapl came up with his conclusion, "J, right?" But at his response, Artefus chuckled.

"No, that's what the textbooks tell you, I had J5 during the battle of Nerio about two decades back," Artefus stated as he leaned to whisper into Rapl's ear, "But after I survived, I broke through the J barrier, I'm currently K1 right now."

Rapl's eyes widened, "S-so you're the highest right now?"

But at his apprentice's question, Artefus' face darkened, "Yes, currently… but I know the second Lightborne is released, it would only take her a few months to reach K1 instead of a hundred like I… that damn recluse doesn't have any responsibility so she just studies her ass off," there was a slight jealously in Artefus' angry tone, one that made Rapl a bit unsettled. But as the Lich saw his apprentice distance himself a bit, he steadied himself again, "Talking about rivals, I'll be announcing something to all five of you."

Not a while later, after Artefus broke Quix and Sevi's fighting, he huddled the five together as he cleared his throat.

"First off, nice work all of you, I saw most of your battles, and I am proud of your strength," he praised in a light tone, "But, as you know Dyrin and his strongest captains are still out there, your objective right now is to recover and prepare yourself as all five of you will hunt them down. I saw that all of you have your own opponents, so I shall give you knowledge on how to defeat them as you recover."

To the side, Quix stared at his Emperor, and an intrusive thought left his brain as he remarked, "How about I just track them down? These guys are still injured, the second they recover Dyrin and his captains would've also recovered."

Artefus didn't even face Quix as he responded, "When you were fifteen, I was there when you fought Maldin the Consumer, do you know why I never helped you even when he was beating you into a pulp?"

At the Lich's answer, Quix turned his head embarrassed a bit, "Yeah, I know." However, as Artefus finished talking to the Grand General, his aura suddenly became darker.

"You five are the future of Zan, and as the current Emperor, I expect no less than a victory from all five of you. If one loses, don't help them unless they are unconscious, for you are all apprentices of the One Foe of All, the same way you all shall inherit my legacy, you shall inherit my foes, and I want all of you to FIGHT until you win, or die, no in-between."

The Lich's stern speech gave the five a reality check of what was in front of them, they had been saved by their master when they had failed, but now, he was about to throw them in deep waters with nothing more than a short rope.